Oil Company Greed Seen as Major Reason for High Gas Prices

[sabra]

Source: Gallup

Majority of Americans expect $4.00 gas prices this summer

PRINCETON, NJ -- The latest Gallup panel survey finds the public bracing for continued rising gas prices this summer. A majority of poll respondents expect gas prices to reach the $4.00 per gallon level in their local area this summer, though only a small minority expects it to reach the $5.00 mark. Roughly two in three Americans say they have already been affected financially in some meaningful way by the high gas prices. The public most often mentions oil company greed as the reason for the high gas prices, though it also mentions other more practical reasons such as problems with refineries.

In the May 21-24, 2007, survey, 58% of Americans predict that gas prices will reach $4.00 per gallon in their local area this summer. However, only 8% believe gas prices will reach $5.00 per gallon, and just 1% of the public believes prices will go as high as $6.00 per gallon.

Read more: http://www.galluppoll.com/content/?ci=27709

[Az]

1. Gallup polls. Telling the people what they think for years now

Gotta love it.

[ixion]

2. "more practical reasons...like refineries"

which are being shut down on purpose due to oil company greed, so THAT is where it all comes back to. :grr:

[liberal N proud]

3. Example of the greed - Prices $3.49 through holiday weekend down $.20 today

Today price of gas in Cleveland area $3.19 Monday it was $3.49

[RL3AO]

6. The opposite here. Gas went down 18 cents before the holiday.

[DemoTex]

4. The Face of Greed

Former ExxMob boss Lee Raymond
Now enjoying his $400-million/year retirement

[BootinUp]

7. If I was playing "The Dead Pool" game

I'd predict a coronary before too long, the heart can't pump all that lard.

[DemoTex]

22. Pumpin' lard! LOL!

My dentist and I were just talking about Lee Raymond. You would think that someone making $400-million a year would get a total make-over. Especially the teeth and the whale blubber. But you are right. Raymond probably won't get to enjoy all that money for long.

Now, about Crashcart Cheney and his ill-gotten fortunes-of-war: I wonder what kind of odds the London bookies give that Cheney will/won't live to enjoy his blood money.

[BootinUp]

5. and refinery problems are caused by what or who?

Greed and oil company executives is still the right answer.

[dougheffernon]

9. What we need is.....

1. less taxes on gas
2. more drilling
3. more refineries

It's supply & demand!  We need it, they sell it.  It's
that simple.  Unless you walk or ride a bike to work, we are
all to blame.

[BootinUp]

10. I accept a large part of the blame on behalf

of my fellow citizens, but there is still market control and lack of competition that could be curbed. In the final analysis it is hurting people at the lower end of the wage scale more than the rest.

[NickB79]

16. Numbers 1 and 2 are pretty bad ideas

Cut taxes on gas, and you see gas prices drop only a few cents. However, those gas taxes provide states with millions of dollars used to maintain the roads. After a few years with insufficient money for maintenance, you'll begin to see more traffic jams and cars damaged from hitting potholes. We're seeing the effects of no new gas tax increases in the past 20 yrs here in Minnesota. The roads are in bad shape.

More drilling really won't do much good in the US anymore, with us being so far past peak oil production in the US. American oil production reached a peak in 1970, and has been declining ever since. Even the discovery and drilling of the North Slope of Alaska and the Gulf oil rigs hasn't stopped the decline. The remaining oil deposits, such as ANWR and off the California coastline, are small potatoes compared to those reserves. Their addition to the US oil supply would cause minimal price reductions, on the order of a few cents, and would take 5 years to see production after construction commenced.

Building more refineries probably wouldn't hurt, but I don't see how it would help either. If global oil production did peak in 2005 like many geologists are now starting to claim, there won't be any new oil to refine when new refineries would come online in 5 years or so.

[dougheffernon]

18. Not bad Nickb79

A well backed opinion w/o cussing. I was hoping there would be other posters like this here. Yes, I know about the taxes. we do need those for infrastructure. That was kinda my point on that one. I'm not sure there's a definitive answer on how much oil we have here but I feel we need to get as much as we can and refine it. We should save ANWR for the eventual middle east collapse and subsequent lack of oil.
Don't get me wrong, I'm just as frustrated as the next guy, but as long as a barrel of oil is over $70 dollars, we will see high prices.

[FatDave]

8. Watch for the record profits

This is the bullshit game the oil companies play. They say "But our costs are up too! The price of crude is through the roof, and our refineries are all fucked up, so we have to raise prices to cover our costs!" and the gullible swallow it. Then when the quarterly earnings reports come out, lo and behold, the Exxon, Shell and BP have psoted record profits. Any fool can see that if the price hikes were just to cover their production costs, profits would not skyrocket. Yet they do.

[dougheffernon]

11. Those darn oil companies!

Yes, oil companies are making tons of money. Know why? America buys tons of gas! Hello??
Here are a few facts to consider:
1. Crude oil is a product we don't produce so we have to buy it from other countries.
2. Those countries set the price, not oil companies.
3. Oil companies are a business. They buy crude oil, refine it to gas, and sell it.
4. The cost of crude oil is about 51% of the cost of a gallon of gas.
5. The rest of the costs come from distribution & marketing, and state & federal TAXES!!!
6. The oil company gross profit on a gallon of gas is about 29%. Problem with that? Sorry, but that's called capitalism. Without capitalism, we have no jobs or income.

Point you finger at the middle east and state & federal governments. That's where we should be focusing on.

[FatDave]

12. OK, what's with all the big oil appologists today?

You're the 2nd person I've seen today with a single-digit post count defending the oil companies. What gives?

Also, you did nothing to respond to my argument that passing rising production costs on to the consumer should not mean increased profits. Care to add a more substantial argument or are you just here to troll?

[dougheffernon]

13. Single-digit post?

What does that have to do with my opinion? I'm sure you had to start at some time or did you get 500 bonus posts when you signed up? I didn't read your post. I was looking at the poll taken with people who want to blame oil companies for gas we've been guzzling for years. I'm happy with my argument, nothing to add. But thanks for asking.

[FatDave]

27. OK...

The single-digit post count by itself means nothing. Like you say, everybody's got to start some time.

But it's not uncommon for people from other boards that oppose our viewpoints (say, I dunno, freerepublic.com) to create an account on DU just to stir up trouble. If you had a post count of 3 and were saying something like "Bush should be impeached" or "Dick Cheney should be tried for war crimes" or "The Democratic leadership is a bunch of spineless cowards" nobody would give it a second thought. Likewise, should somebody with a high post count defend the actions of oil companies, they'd get argued with plenty, but nobody would suspect them of being anything other than a good DU member with an unpopular opinion. Just the combination of the two made me immediately suspect a freeper troll. If I was wrong, I apologize.

As far as you not reading my post, well, you replied to my post, so I assumed what you wrote was a reply to my post. But that's an easy mistake to make, since most forum software these days doesn't thread conversations and DU doesn't give a really good visual cue of what's a reply to the original post and what's a reply to a...um...reply. Anyhow, if you're replying to an original post, be sure to click the "reply" link immediately below the original post, not immediately below somebody else's post lest they think you're replying to them.

[frylock]

14. you can post 5000 more bullshit factoids but it doesn't change the fact..

that oil companies are reaping RECORD PROFIT$ EVERY QUARTER! That's not capitalism, that's fucking price gouging.

[dougheffernon]

15. So should they lose money?

If that's your answer, it makes no sense. How about this, let the federal government legislate all companies make no more than a 5% profit. All businesses! What would that do to America? It would collapse like the former Soviet Union. BTW, the above scenario is called communism.

[frylock]

17. their profits should be regulated..

is this what capitalism means to you? enormous profits at the expense of the working class? how much is too much? do you often struggle with the decision as to whether you should feed the fam Raman again, or drop a few gallons in the tank in order to drive to work so that you can purchase more of that tasty, nutritious Raman? your solution is to drive less. that's great, as long as you're able to secure a job in an affordable area, or take advantage of mass transit. if the transit system sucks like it does here, what then?

[dougheffernon]

20. Will never be done.

You cannot tell a company, or an individual, how much they can make. That absurd! If you regulate profit on companies, you must regulate pay to all able bodied workers. Would this be a better country if everybody made 30K? Nothing more, nothing less? If that's your premise, Karl Marx is smiling right now.

[Name removed]

24. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[reprobate]

19. Read some history. In the last gas crisis they were levied windfall profits taxes.

Didn't seem to have some lasting negative effect of the oil companies.

The difference between then and now is that now the government is run by an administration of oilmen, and legislated by congress critters who depend on corporate donations, in large part from oil companies to run their reelection campaigns. It costs so much now to run for congress that the members simply cannot be unbiased. When you give people bribes they will repay the bribes with votes for those that bribed them.

Unregulated capitalism is like a shark, it will eat everything it can catch. And you know what they say about swimming with sharks? When you swim with sharks you want to keep an eye on them. And you need to be able to kill them when they turn on you. And they will. It's just their nature.

There was a time in this nation when corporations faced the death penalty. They were expected to act in ways that benefited the population. If they were found to act in ways that effected the population in a negative way they lost their charter. That's corporate death.

This changed when the principle of corporate personhood was foisted on us. See Santa Clara County v Southern Pacific which is said to have been the decision that started corporate person hood. Read the decision. There is not a word about corporate person hood in it. The only reference to it is in the clerk's summary of the decision, which was written by a former employee of Southern Pacific.

This false decision is what has been responsible for all the problems we face as a democracy today. It allowed corporations to take over government with no control over them.

So let's not hold up capitalism as the end all and be all of economic systems. As practiced in the United States it is neither free nor fair.

[Odin2005]

23. The oil and natural gas industries should be nationalized.

[dougheffernon]

26. Nationalizing is not the answer

You're only 21 years old. Respond to me when you're not so "wet behind the ears". Get some life experience and we'll talk then.

[lyonn]

25. Big Oil better take advantage of us while it can, changes are coming

Alternative fuel, etc. These outrageous gasoline prices are forcing these alternatives. Carter had it right in the 1970's, that we needed to become self efficient with fuel and power. We have lost 30 years of research and development.

And yes, their profits are obscene.

[AndyA]

28. What you just posted is complete bullshit.

Think. About. It.

If oil companies pay more for crude, if it costs them more to transport it, refine it, deliver it to stations, etc., their costs are higher, right?

OK.

I would not think that the oil companies were gouging the public if their profits were in line with what they were before the prices went up.

But that isn't the case.

Consider Exxon's profit for the entire year 1999: $8.35 Billion.

How about the entire year of 2005: $36.1 Billion.

How about the entire year of 2006: $39.5 Billion.

Now, contrast that with the First Quarter of 2007: $9.28 Billion in THREE MONTHS!

Exxon's First Quarter 2007 profits exceeded their entire profits for the year 1999!

And the oil companies aren't gouging the public? How can they make that much AFTER EXPENSES if they aren't? How much is enough?

Quit defending the oil companies - everyone knows what's going on here.

[Roland99]

21. The old refinery dodge (a related thread in G.D.)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=1000623&mesg_id=1000623